Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
It is amazing to me that St. Paul can say these things in His letter to the congregation in Corinth or to any congregation for that matter. It defies worldly logic and wisdom to find comfort in the midst of affliction. But this is not worldly wisdom that St. Paul uses but the revealed will of God. Faith is speaking through Paul. We as Christians see our sufferings and those of others as the sharing in Christ’s sufferings. In his life, Jesus was afflicted. He was threatened with death many times and ultimately He endured the physical trial of the passion and the cross. Yet Christ knew that He would be delivered from death, even defeat it and the consequences of sin, not only for Himself but for all. We have a share in the comfort Christ received. “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”
St. Paul goes on in his letter to share the tribulation of the cross He and his fellow servants of the Word experienced in Asia. “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.” (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)
This week tribulation found me as I awoke early Sunday morning with shortness of breath. I was unable to catch my breath, and after several hours of laboring I finally woke Nancy and had her take me to the emergency room where I was then admitted to the critical care unit. It took about nine hours after dialysis before I began to experience relief. The doctors found a couple small blood clots in my lungs that they believed traveled from a larger clot in my left leg. These will be managed with blood thinners. They decided to install a filter in my vein in order to prevent further clots from entering my lungs. For good measure, they also put me back on IV antibiotics. It appears, though, that it was fluid build-up in my lungs that was the main culprit. I was happy to be released from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, in time to attend an important meeting with the stem cell coordinator at UCLA on Friday.
The Lord once again has delivered me from deadly peril. Not just temporally, but through baptism as I have a share in Christ’s affliction and therefore have a share in the comfort of the resurrection. And so do you! Therefore we can pray with Christ and the Psalmist.
"I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: 'O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!'
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." (Ps 116:1-9)
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